Vietnam, U.S. To Sign Trade Deal In June

Vietnam and the United States are preparing to sign a trade agreement in early June, Vietnam's trade minister said Monday. The deal would pave the way for the communist country to join the World Trade Organization.

The two countries reached an agreement in principle after four days of negotiations in Washington earlier this month.

Trade Minister Truong Dinh Tuyen said U.S. Trade Representative-designate Susan Schwab is expected to attend a meeting of trade ministers of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Ho Chi Minh City on June 1-2, and that Vietnam and the United States were expected to sign their agreement at that time.

"The two sides are very actively preparing to sign the agreement on that occasion," Tuyen said at a news conference.

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Tuyen said Vietnam hopes to conclude multilateral negotiations on Vietnam's accession to the WTO in July. Vietnam applied to join the world trade body in 1995 and has concluded negotiations with 28 members that had requested bilateral talks.

Vietnam wants to join the WTO before hosting the November APEC, or Asia-Pacific Economic Forum, summit, which President Bush is expected to attend.

The U.S. Congress must vote to formally restore permanent normal trade relations to Vietnam before the communist nation can join the WTO. Tuyen said he got strong support for that move from eight congressmen he met during his visit to Washington.

Tuyen said joining the WTO would bring Vietnam immediate benefits because it would eliminate quotas on garment exports.

"It creates a stable and predictable system of policies, and therefore domestic and foreign enterprises will feel secure to invest and do business," Tuyen said.

He said accession to the WTO would signal recognition by the international community of Vietnam's domestic reforms, but he complained that new members of the WTO were subject to more demands and requirements in negotiations.

"There is unfairness in negotiations to join the WTO," Tuyen said "Vietnam's commitment to market access is higher than those countries which joined the WTO between 1995-2000."

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